Lithium Grim Klonulator Instruction Manual

Klonulator
Building instructions
v1.0
Last update: 22-10-2019

Klonulator v1.0
Manufacturers and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the
property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
is implied.
2
Table of contents
PCB layout ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Components ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Bill of Materials........................................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 7
Build sequence ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Enclosure (drilling)............................................................................................................................... 7
Populating the PCB.............................................................................................................................. 8
Off board wiring ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Potentiometers non PCB mounted ..................................................................................................... 9
Potentiometers PCB mounted ............................................................................................................ 9
Switches............................................................................................................................................. 10
Gain boost ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Clipping diodes .............................................................................................................................. 10
Original wiring (Buffered bypass)...................................................................................................... 11
True bypass wiring............................................................................................................................. 12
Klon Bypass PCB ................................................................................................................................ 13
Modifications......................................................................................................................................... 14
Bare bones power section................................................................................................................. 14
Treble mod ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Bass guitar mod................................................................................................................................. 14
Output Pot......................................................................................................................................... 14
Output mixer ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Op amp.............................................................................................................................................. 14
Clipping diode section ....................................................................................................................... 15
Gain mods.......................................................................................................................................... 15
Splitting the Gain (P1).................................................................................................................... 15
Adding Distortion .......................................................................................................................... 15
Adding Growl with Gain boost ...................................................................................................... 15

Klonulator v1.0
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3
Silver Pony......................................................................................................................................... 16
1994 specs......................................................................................................................................... 16
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................... 16
Drill Templates ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Topside Hammond 1590BB............................................................................................................... 17
Back side Jacks Hammond 1590BB ................................................................................................... 17
Schematic .............................................................................................................................................. 18

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4
PCB layout
Dimensions: 100 mm x 49,6 mm
3.94 inch x 1.95 inch

Klonulator v1.0
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5
Components
Name
Value
Comment
Name
Value
Comment
C1
100n
SMF/MKT/Wima
P1A*
B100k
Gain Dry
C2
4u7
Electrolytic 25V+
P1B*
B100k
Gain Wet
C3
100n
SMF/MKT/Wima
P2
B10k
Tone
C4
68n
SMF/MKT/Wima
P3
B10k
Output
C5
68n
SMF/MKT/Wima
R1 **
10k
1% metalfilm
C6
390n
SMF/MKT/Wima
R2
1M
1% metalfilm
C7
82n
SMF/MKT/Wima
R3
100k
1% metalfilm
C8
390p
SMF/MKT/Wima
R4
560R
1% metalfilm
C9
1u
SMF/MKT/Wima/Electrolytic
R5
5k1
1% metalfilm
C10
1u
SMF/MKT/Wima/Electrolytic
R6
10k
1% metalfilm
C11
2n2
SMF/MKT/Wima
R7
1k5
1% metalfilm
C12
27n
SMF/MKT/Wima
R8
1k5
1% metalfilm
C13
820p
SMF/MKT/Wima
R9
1k
1% metalfilm
C14
3n9
SMF/MKT/Wima
R10
2k
1% metalfilm
C15
4u7
Electrolytic 25V+
R11
15k
1% metalfilm
C16
1u
SMF/MKT/Wima/Electrolytic
R12
422k
1% metalfilm
C17
47u
Electrolytic 25V+
R13
1k
1% metalfilm
C18
100n
SMF/MKT/Wima
R14
3k9
1% metalfilm
C19
47u
Electrolytic 25V+
R15
22k
1% metalfilm
C20
1u
Electrolytic 25V+
R16
47k
1% metalfilm
C21
1u
Electrolytic 25V+
R17
27k
1% metalfilm
C22
1u
Electrolytic 25V+
R18
12k
1% metalfilm
C23
1u
Electrolytic 25V+
R19
15k
1% metalfilm
D1
LED
Status (Red diffuse)
R20
392k
1% metalfilm
D2
1N34A/D9E
Germanium Diode
R21
1k8
1% metalfilm
D3
1N34A/D9E
Germanium Diode
R22
100k
1% metalfilm
D4
1N4148
Si Diode
R23
4k7
1% metalfilm
D5
1N4148
Si Diode
R24
100k
1% metalfilm
D6
1N4742
Zener 12V 0,5W
R25
560R
1% metalfilm
D7
1N5817
R26
10k
1% metalfilm
D8
1N5817
R27
20k
1% metalfilm
IC1
TL072
R28
27k
1% metalfilm
IC2
TL072
R29
27k
1% metalfilm
IC3
ICL7660S
SW1
DIP2
Diodes
SW2
DPDT
Gain boost
* P1A and P1B form a stereo potentiometer and not two separate potentiometers.
** Pre 1995 original versions have a jumper instead of a resistor as R1. It is just a current
limiting resistor. There is no sonic difference if you put it in or leave it out.
All parts need to be 25V+ rated A=Log, B=Lin, C=Rev. Log

Klonulator v1.0
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6
Bill of Materials
Name
Value
Type
Amount
Name
Value
Type
Amount
C
390p
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
R
560R
1% metalfilm
2
820p
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
1k
1% metalfilm
2
2n2
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
1k5
1% metalfilm
2
3n9
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
1k8
1% metalfilm
1
27n
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
2k
1% metalfilm
1
68n
SMF/MKT/Wima
2
3k9
1% metalfilm
1
82n
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
4k7
1% metalfilm
1
100n
SMF/MKT/Wima
3
5k1
1% metalfilm
1
390n
SMF/MKT/Wima
1
10k
1% metalfilm
3
1u
SMF/MKT/Wima/Electrolytic
3
12k
1% metalfilm
1
1u
Electrolytic 25V+
4
15k
1% metalfilm
2
4u7
Electrolytic 25V+
2
20k
1% metalfilm
1
47u
Electrolytic 25V+
2
22k
1% metalfilm
1
D
1N34A
Germanium Diode
2
27k
1% metalfilm
3
1N4742
Zener 12V 0,5W
1
47k
1% metalfilm
1
1N5817
Scotky Diode
2
100k
1% metalfilm
3
LED
Red difuse
1
392k
1% metalfilm
1
1N4148
Si Diode
2
422k
1% metalfilm
1
IC
ICL7660S
Charge Pump
1
1M
1% metalfilm
1
TL072
Op Amp
2
SW
DIP2
Diodes
1
P
B10k
16mm Alpha potentiometer
2
DPDT
Gain boost
1
B100k
Stereo Alpha 16mm Pot
1
Besides the components mentioned in the table, you will need:
•2 mono input jacks.
•2,1mm DC jack (isolated).
•22 gage stranded hook-up wire.
•1 x LED holders (Optional). This enables you to mount the LED in the enclosure.
•Footswitch 3PDT (9 pins)
•LED (3mm or 5mm depending on your taste). These are the status LED
•Hammond 1590BB case (or similar) in your favorite color. This case will fit very tight and
leaves little room for error. If you need more room you could consider using a Hammond
1590XX.
Read this entire manual thoroughly before you start building the effect! There are some available
options and you should choose which one you want to incorporate before starting your build.

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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7
Introduction
The Klonulator is based on Bill Finnegans famous Klon Centaur™. While sticking close to the original, I
added a few optional onboard modifications and dedicated an entire modifications section in this
manual so you can add your own flavor to the effect (only if you want to of course). Read the entire
manual before you start building. All mods require different components from the ones stated on the
previous page, so there are many options that you should for prepare properly!
The PCB has been designed to be able to let you use a wide range of stereo gain potentiometers
while still leaving room for a DPDT switch (eg. for the gain boost). Although the Output and Treble
pots are designed to be used with PCB mounted pots, you can always choose not to use them and
use different pots with standard solder lugs. This can be the case if you want to build it in a bigger
enclosure (default is Hammond 1590BB). For this there are also four 3mm holes in the PCB for
standoffs.
To close things off, note that I do not claim any originality or genius. I do however claim I did my
homework. I’ve read and tested all I could find on the Internet to be able to bring you the maximum
available options. Enjoy your build! If you want to read up on the Klon technology, then take a look at
these sites:
•Freestompboxes.org –Schematic (thank you for tracing Martin Chittum!)
•Electrosmash –Klon circuit analysis
•Freestompboxes.org –Bare Bone Klon
•La Revolution Deux –Klon mods
•DIYStompboxes –Klon Output mixer
Build sequence
Enclosure (drilling)
I suggest you now drill the holes in your enclosure so you can use it during the off board wiring.
Here is a template for drilling the pots, LED and switches in a Hammond 1590BB:
42,5mm 42,5mm
Gain Treble Output
77mm
Gain boost
36,5mm
Footswitch
47mm
45mm
15mm
25mm

Klonulator v1.0
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8
Pots need a 7 mm hole, footswitches 13 mm, other switches (Gain boost and/or Diodes) need 6 mm
holes and the LED is either 5 mm or 3 mm depending on your choice of LED.
Diameters might differ with different brands of switches, so before drilling the holes, measure if it
fits!!!!! The 36,5 mm for the gain boost hole is just a suggestion based on the switch I used.
The hole for the LED is based on the position when it is PCB mounted. You are of course free to put is
somewhere else using a LED holder.
You are free to choose where to drill the holes for the input/output, gain/diode switches and DC
jacks and the footswitches as it is very taste dependent.
Note: Really take some time to determine where and how to place the pots, switches, jacks and PCB
in the enclosure before you start drilling. Measure twice, drill once. I suggest you drill the holes for
the pots first, insert the pots and attach the not yet populated PCB. Measure where to drill the gain
boost switch (if applicable) and LED
At the back of this document you will find a drill template to make it a bit easier.
Populating the PCB
Before starting with this section, make sure you have read the modifications section first!
Soldering this board can be very complicated for some people since the solder pads are very close
together. Use a magnifying glass to make the job easier.
The trick to soldering a PCB is to work from small to big components. My building sequence
suggestions in this section are based on the parts I used myself. Sometimes some components are
smaller (or bigger) so always use your own common sense and change the order accordingly. Usually
capacitors can differ a lot in size depending on their rating and value.
Note: Do not blow on your solder in an attempt to cool it down. That may result in a bad join that
might corrode! Also take extra care not to short components or to overheat them.
Start by soldering the resistors and jumpers (if applicable). If needed you can create a jumper using a
spare piece of lead from a resistor or diode. Next come the diodes D2 - D8. Watch out! Germanium
diodes are very fragile. Measure if they are not defective before soldering them. Now solder the IC
sockets.
Now continue by soldering the MLCC, SMF/MKT/Wima capacitors and finish with soldering thes
Electrolytics. You are almost ready rock!

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
is implied.
9
Off board wiring
You can either mount the potentiometers directly to the PCB with special potentiometers or use the
more traditional solder lug potentiometers.
Potentiometers non PCB mounted
In the pictures below you see the correct pin numbering of the pots (Alpha 16mm style).
Solder the wires accordingly and it is always a good idea to twist the wires together to create some
extra shielding against external noise. The rectangle pad marks the pad for pin 1.
You can break off the pin I marked with the yellow circle with a small pair of pliers.
The wiring for the switches is the same, marking position 1 with a rectangle pad. It is a good idea to
angle the top row of pins of the stereo pot about 45 degrees. This will give you a better fit for
attaching the wires (top right picture).
Potentiometers PCB mounted
P1 (A and B) are still not PCB mounted and can be wired as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Start by mounting Output and Treble pots in the enclosure and make sure you first removed the pin
with a small pair of pliers.
I would advise to use some standoffs on the PCB to make it extra sturdy in the enclosure. Especially
the standoff in the lower right corner of the PCB. Do not yet tape them to the enclosure because
after attaching the pots, you will still need to do a lot of wiring! Now attach the bottom side of PCB to
the pots until they fit, but do not solder them yet! Next, mount the Gain pot in the enclosure and if
applicable the gain boost switch and status LED (D1).
If all fits well, solder the pots to the PCB, else adjust where needed.
Gain
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3
6 5 4
3 2 1 3 2 1
Treble Output

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10
Switches
Gain boost
Clipping diodes
If you want to be able to switch the diodes externally and not via the internal DIP switch, then leave
out the DIP and wire it like this using a SP3T (ON/OFF/ON) switch:
Or as a DP3T On/Z/On switch so you can also switch all diodes on (but not off!) Test the pole that are
active in the middle position before you solder it.

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11
Original wiring (Buffered bypass)
Cathode (short leg)
Anode (long leg)
Status
Tip
Sleeve
Output
Ring
Sleeve
Tip
Input
There is no wire from the output sleeve to ground so make sure there is good electrical contact
between the jack and the enclosure, else you will need to solder a wire from the output sleeve to the
input sleeve. The footswitch needs to have the missing output mixer resistors fitted directly on the
switch like this:
Note that you can also use a DPDT footswitch for this instead of a 3PDT!
68k
68k
100K

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12
True bypass wiring
There are several ways to fit true bypass to this PCB. First off I suggest you leave out the output
mixer resistors (both 68k). If you really want to, you can keep the 100k between the output jack and
ground although not really necessary.
Cathode (short leg)
Anode (long leg)
Status
Tip
Sleeve
Output
Ring
Sleeve
Tip
Input
There is no wire from the output sleeve to ground so make sure there is good electrical contact
between the jack and the enclosure, else you will need to solder a wire from the output sleeve to the
input sleeve. The footswitch needs to have the 100k resistors fitted directly on the switch like this:
100K

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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13
Klon Bypass PCB
When you bought a klon bypass PCB, you can solder and wire it up as follows.
RA and RB are 68k. RC is 100k. Some clones do not use RA. The miniature DPDT switch lets you
switch between regular buffered bypass and true bypass. There are some handy switches you can
buy on Aliexpress or Ebay.
If you do not want to use the mini switch then you can connect the pads using a piece of spare lead
wire like this:
Buffered bypass True Bypass
Tip
Sleeve
Output
Ring
Sleeve
Tip
Input
Cathode (short leg)
Anode (long leg)
Status

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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14
Modifications
Bare bones power section
Some do not see the added value of the charge pump as it is only there to keep IC2 from clipping.
There are however clipping diodes before IC2 is reached so that way you can doubt the use of the
charge pump. If you want to leave it out, do not install IC3, D7, D8, C20, C21, C22 and C23.
You will need to solder a jumper on the pads of D7 and D8 as well as on the pads of C21.
Treble mod
There are some people who think the treble is bit thin on the original. You can fatten it up by
changing C14 from 3n9 to 6n8 or 8n2. You could also try a DP3T (On/Off/On) with (from left to right)
a 4n7, 3n9 and 2n7.
Bass guitar mod
If you want to use the effect with a bass guitar, change C1 from 100n to 390n.
Output Pot
Some people do not like the response of the output pot. If you are one of those, then change the
B10k to a A10K.
Output mixer
Arguably a missed discussion in a lot of clones. You will not find these on my PCB as I moved them to
the footswitch. In the original schematic these are the 68k resistors between the output and the
buffer on one side and the effect on the other (R26 and R27). Up until the 3rd revision of the original
they were not on the PCB. There is no clear story on why they are added, but as a result there will
always be a little clean signal leaking through the wet signal when the pedal is engaged. It is however
the question if the clean part is at all audible through the overdriven sound. If you are a cork sniffer,
then leave them on the footswitch, else you can leave them out and safe a few cents and trouble.
Op amp
You could use a OPA2134 instead of the TL072. Actually you can use almost any dual opamp as long
as the pinout is similar to the TL072 and can handle up to +18V. Some suggestions NE5532, TL082,
JRC4558P or JRC4580D. Feel free to experiment! There have been positive reports using a LF353 or
JRC4558D for IC1 and a NE5532 for IC2.

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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15
Clipping diode section
The Diode section has a lot of options. Let’s walk through the standard layout. There have been many
discussions on which diodes were used and finally the D9E and/or 1N34A were designated as
“originals”. This version of the PCB offers you the change to experiment. I suggest you put the
originals in D2 and D3, and your choice of diodes in D4 and D5. My suggestion is to put some red
LEDs in there or maybe other silicon diodes (1N4148, 1N914 or 1N4001). With the DIP switch you can
then choose between both sets, or even none. Haven’t we seen this before in another famous pedal?
Well, yes… it looks like the diode setup in the King/Prince of Tone™. If you want to make the diodes
externally switchable, you can use a SP3T switch and attach pads Aand Bto the outer lugs and the
pad marked common to the center lug.
If you do not want the clipping diode selection then put the original diodes in D2 and D3, leave out
D4, D5 and the DIP switch SW1 and short Pad Aand the common pad.
Gain mods
Splitting the Gain (P1)
P1 is as true to the original a stereo potentiometer. When you choose to split it into 2 separate
B100k potentiometers, you can adjust the mix of wet and dry signal. This can give some extra tone
options to your pallet. You might have to consider a bigger enclosure due to the tight space in the
1590BB (try a 1590XX or bigger).
Adding Distortion
If you want to go into the distortion zone by boosting the gain but keep the frequency response of
the original then use 2 red LED's for D4 and D5 (and set the SW1 dipswitch to AOff, BOn). Modify
R10 to 680R, R11 to 4k99 and C7 to 180nF.
Adding Growl with Gain boost
This is such a good mod that it is pre-built on the PCB. By default R16 is 47k. By changing this to
somewhere between 8k2 and 20k, the overdrive gets a nice growl while keeping the characteristics
of the original. I suggest you populate the board as mentioned in the component section and off
board wiring section. This way you can choose between the original 47k (middle position) and a high
and even ultra gain boost. The lower the resistance, the higher the gain gets, but if your effect starts
squealing or motor boating at high gain pot settings, then add a resistor in series to lug 2 on P1B with
a value between 20k and 47k, like this:
If you do not want to use this mod then leave just out SW2, R26 and R27. You will also not need the
optional resistor on lug 2.

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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16
Silver Pony
Also a well-known mod based on the reverse-engineered silver Centaur, serial S2207 (by Build Your
Own Clone). The brought up some different valued components.
Changing R10 to 47R will give you some more gain. Changing R17 to 10k and R18 to 4k7 will give
more volume and treble for the dry signal. Change R21 to 4k7 and R23 to 1k8 to shift the range of
the tone knob. Lastly, changing C13 to 560p will increase the overall brightness.
1994 specs
In 1995 R11 was introduced among some other value changes, but they do not really affect the tone.
R11 will boosts the bottom mids a bit. Before that, there was a jumper as R11. You could make it
switchable using a SPST.
Troubleshooting
All PCB’s have been 100% factory e-tested and out of every batch I receive I build an effect to double
check, so there should not be a connection problem on the PCB itself.
The board is not working (at all), what now?
•Check if your 9V is plugged in correctly (and/or soldered correctly on the board). Pay special
attention to the polarity.
•Check that you oriented the capacitors, IC’s ,transistors and diodes the right way. SMF, MKT
and ceramic capacitors as well as resistors do not need to be oriented. A likely sign of
incorrect capacitors and/or orientation is when an effect is sputtering, rumbling or
“motorboating”.
•Check if you used the correct values of the components. For resistors you can look here:
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Electronics/Color/
•Double and triple check your soldering! A loose or cold solder can be really bad for your
board.
•Replace the IC and/or transistors, one might be defective. Before doing that first unplug the
9V and wait for 5 seconds.
Check that you have good/high grade components. A lot of Chinese sourced parts are fakes
(especially high end opamps, audio capacitors, vintage diodes and transistors) so be careful that you
source your parts from reliable suppliers.

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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17
Drill Templates
Topside Hammond 1590BB
Back side Jacks Hammond 1590BB

Klonulator v1.0
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property of their respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement
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18
Schematic